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Looking at Landing Sites for the Mars Science Laboratory

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Uploaded by on May 27, 2009

From space, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter takes a closer look at four possible landing sites for NASAs next Mars rover.

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Science & Technology

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  • They chose Gale Crater! Yayyy!

  • You know, when they decide on a landing site for the new rover, the JPLnews youtube channel should post that video as a video-response to this video. That would be cool to see after watching this video, which by the way, is utterly fascinating.

  • @Noogymonster I meant, the helium could inflate an airbag beneath the rover to free the sunken wheels from the soil. Then the airbag would deflate.

  • @TableWolfMusic How would the helium stop from making the rover float all together.

  • No way out man Asian women #lushfmlk.info#

  • this is so cool.

  • I'm not from JPL but I think I have the answer. Spirit and Opportunity were built specifically as low cost rovers as part of a program at NASA to send cheap Orbiters/ rovers to other celestial bodies.

    The Mars Science Laboratory is not part of this program. To give you a cost break down, spirit and opporunity each cost a couple hundred million to make. The MSL on the other hand will end up costing a couple BILLION. Building a second of these may just be too expensive for NASA's budget.

  • Good point. Besides, the rover is gonna get stuck on a rock or something eventually (as happened recently). So it might aswell get stuck somewhere interesting.

    Speaking of getting stuck, cant they have some helium balloon or similar to inflate from a pod on the back of the rover and lift it out of being stuck?

    Seems a shame to waste that helium that got vented from the lander they dropped at the north pole. That's if they use helium on the rovers.

    Its a hamfisted idea but an idea nonetheless.

  • This video is also on Nasa videogallery

    Final candidate landing sites and reasons are:

    North

    Mawrth Vallis -Diverse mineral signatures -Mixing of soils by impacts and water

    South

    Holden Crater -Indicates water flowed from valley into crater lake, overflowing, leaving layers

    Eberswalde Crater -Water obviously flowed out of highlands into crater

    Equator

    Gale Crater -Once filled with water Many minerals exist ie Sulplates Sediments Clay

    I hope it's Gale. Once equator was warmer? Likelier life.

  • I'd like to see some mountains in the pictures that come back from Mars. Viking, Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity all have very 'flat' surroundings. I know it's more safe for those probes to land in such areas... but some mountains on the horizons would be a nice change in the photos sent back from Mars.

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